India, Friday 01 November 2024: British Airways has unveiled its new TV advert and brand campaign – “Family in the Skies” – created specifically for the Indian market and showcasing India-based colleagues as the stars. As the UK flag carrier celebrates 100 years of flying between India and the UK this month, the campaign showcases its passion and commitment to providing exceptional service through its greatest asset – its people.
The advert was developed with British Airways’ UK-based agency, Uncommon Creative Studio, alongside its network of Uncommon Minds based in India. Featuring 25 colleagues, and supported by an out of home campaign featuring 78 colleagues, the campaign was collaboratively designed by Indian and British creative directors Tushar Menon and Kate Lloyd. In addition, key insights were taken from research conducted with Indian consumers and British Airways colleagues. The full campaign, which is the first one in India since 2016, also brings together an exceptional roster of acclaimed Indian creative talent, including:
- Renowned Indian filmmaker Prakash Varma who created the short film
- Award-winning casting director Romil Modi (known for the 2024 Cannes Grand Prix winner ‘All We Imagine as Light’), who personally selected the participating colleagues
- Celebrated Bollywood acting coach Chandan Kumar from the National School of Drama who prepared the crew through specialized workshops
- Emerging photographer Avani Rai who captured the striking imagery for the supporting out of home campaign
The full two-minute film follows the journey of a young woman embarking on a solo journey to the UK and making her way to the airport with support and well-wishes from her community and family. The woman’s van breaks down during the journey and she’s in a moment of panic before a British Airways bus passes. A crew member invites her and her family to join the British Airways colleagues to the airport on this all-important journey and the short film sees them share stories, food and laughter with the family on the bus. Having transformed a stressful experience into a memorable one, the woman says an emotional goodbye to her family at the airport before being taken under the crews’ wings and making their way to the flight.
Campaign Link – https://youtu.be/987Qpl89-WU?si=upPFEViInCcG5MfU
This simple yet impactful narrative highlights British Airways’ unwavering dedication to caring for its passengers, shining a light on the crew’s willingness to go above and beyond to create a sense of familiarity and make every journey comfortable and enjoyable. Calum Laming, Chief Customer Officer at British Airways, said: “We are so proud to have more than 2,500 Indian-based colleagues – making India our largest colleague base outside of the UK – and we are proud that more than 100 of them feature in this campaign. It showcases the huge amount of talent we are so lucky to have within our British Airways family and we could not be more thrilled to show this on a national scale in India. Not only does the campaign tell a story, but it shows who we really are.
“It’s important to us to shine a light on each of our colleagues’ originality, as this is British Airways at its most authentic: your family in the skies.”
The film is supported by an out of home campaign which features 78 Indian-based colleagues, including cabin crew, airport colleagues, engineers and those who work in the Call BA customer care centres, who are gathered on the tarmac in front of a British Airways plane. Together with customers, they are smiling and laughing together in the style of a large family portrait.
With local media planning by OMD India, working with British Airways’ London-based expert team at MG OMD, the “Family in the Skies” TV advert will launch across India on November 1. Having tested very positively already, versions will also be released in UK, US, and Canada. Placement includes cinema, YouTube, connected TV, over the top, and social media. The out of home campaign will follow on 9 November and will run all five cities that British Airways operates from in India.
British Airways flies to London Heathrow from five Indian cities – Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. The airline currently operates more than 50 flights per week to the UK, which will increase to more than 60 flights per week for Summer 2025 as it adds a third daily service from Delhi.
